


Winter Challenge

by MirabelleAurea



Series: The Daughter of Rivers and Bones [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Explicit Language, Fantasy, LGBTQ Character, Multi, Polyamorous Character, Romance, Urban Fantasy, challenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:19:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27824395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirabelleAurea/pseuds/MirabelleAurea
Summary: A compilation of drabbles based on the prompts by eddyoscs and randomestfandoms on Tumblr. Set in the Daughter of Rivers and Bones world.
Series: The Daughter of Rivers and Bones [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735915





	1. December 1st — “Come play in the snow with me.”

**Author's Note:**

> As per usual, English is not my native language. I write in French first then translate. If there is any error, typo etc, feel free to point them to me as it helps me to improve. ^^

During the night, New York had been covered by a thick white coat. The air had cooled and become crisp during the last few days and for those who could watch, the city had been invaded by a multitude of small creatures shimmering like splinters of frost.They usually heralded the arrival of the snow a few days in advance. When Aislin had told that to the boys the day before, she had seen Casey's eyes light up like a child's.  
\- The last time I saw snow was in Romania. I hadn't seen any since I left home. I missed it!  
Tommy had burst out laughing.  
\- We lived in an area where it was hot and humid most of the time, and you missed the snow?!  
His companion had pouted.  
\- I know... but I like it... it's... calm and beautiful and cold. The sounds change, they are muffled, as if a blanket had been put on it. And then it makes this small noise when its falls down... like a crackling sound. Or crystal beads rattling together...  
The other two had looked at him a little surprised by his sudden dreamy look.  
\- What?  
\- Nothing, it's just... I would have thought you liked it because of the snowball fights, Ash chuckled.  
\- Ha but that's the bright side! Shall we make a snowman?  
The other two had laughed at his enthusiasm.

  
The day before had been colder than the previous ones. When they went to bed, it seemed to creep into the room, probably because the windows didn't close very well. They had huddled tightly together, once again forming a reassuring heap, and fell asleep. That's why, in the early morning, Casey had a little trouble getting out of bed. He had to retrieve his arms wrapped around Ash and then slip out of their nest without waking her. It was easier with Tommy, just gently rolling him on his side was sufficient, then he would mumble vaguely and go back to sleep immediately. He had grabbed his hoodie that was lying around on the chair and tip-toed to the other room. The day was just beginning to dawn. He blinked. Under the gray light of a low, busy sky, the trees lining the street were shining, adorned with festoons of frost. He approached the window and could barely suppress a cry of joy.  
\- Great!  
Outside, the sleeping city had put on its white coat, still intact. No pedestrians, no cars, the snow cover was thick, smooth and shiny. On the window, the strange little creatures that followed the snow had fun forming patterns. He gently tapped the glass.  
\- Hey, hi there.  
He remembered that as a child when he did this, it made his father angry. He didn't yet know what he was and he couldn't understand why his father couldn't see them. He chased away the memory. He wouldn't let it spoil his joy this time, not when his father wasn't there. He tapped the glass again and had fun following the dance of the little frost fairies. Outside the city was waking up. Carefully, pedestrians began to emerge from the buildings, surprised by the change of scenery and cautious because of the frost. Cars ventured out onto the road but Casey knew that traffic would not be heavy until the trucks passed by to sweep the snow off the main roads. His little patch of snow would still be intact for a while. He chuckled and gently opened one of the windows to lean over. The crisp air picked him up and he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Outside, everything still smelled of snow and the sounds of the street were muffled, he could hear the squealing of the most reckless passerby on the sidewalk and the faint laughter of the little creatures happy to meet one of their own.

  
\- Sweetheart, you're going to catch a cold.  
Surprised by the voice, he got up a little too quickly and bumped into the windowsill, making the little winged creatures fly away like a cloud of sparrows.  
\- Ouch...  
He closed the window while rubbing his skull. Ash stood by the kitchen, wrapped in a shawl. He realized that she was not entirely wrong. In his briefs with a simple hoodie to keep him warm, he was about to catch death. The disadvantage of sleeping in a heap is that you quickly get hot and you don't always realize that it's chilly outside of the bed.  
\- Did I wake you up? I'm sorry... I'm sorry...  
Ash smiled.  
\- I could feel your enthusiasm from the bottom of the bed. It's infectious. Tommy was mumbling things about snowman.  
She grabbed the kettle and put it on the fire before she joined him and wrapped him in her shawl with her.  
\- So, happy? she chuckled as she kissed him.  
\- Oh yes! Will you come and play in the snow with me?  
He huddled against her, taking advantage of her warmth.  
\- Then we may have to wrap our Fox in a lot of scarves before he agrees to come out, but we'll go make a snowman in Central Park, I promise.

Happy, Casey kissed the young woman before leaving the cocoon she had built around them. The kettle whistled, causing the awakening of the third of them and he emerged a little later with his hair in a mess and his eyes full of sleep.  
\- It snowed eh? he yawned. Because I've dreamed of snowball fights while I hate them.  
Casey jumped up on his neck to kiss him.  
\- Yes! And Ash said we'd go to Central Park this afternoon!  
The taller of the two men, even though he was still half asleep, smiled at the communicative enthusiasm of the younger one.  
\- Okay, okay... I'll watch from a distance if you don't mind...  
\- We're going to bundle you up my Fox, you'll see!  
Ash chuckled and came to stick against him.  
\- Go get ready while I make breakfast and try to figure out how to turn on those damn out-of-date radiators.  
The other two nodded before wandering around the apartment.

  
Forty minutes later, the three of them were sitting around the counter that they used to sit every day. Tommy, finally awake, was more communicative, even if the idea of going for a walk in the snow later in the day didn't appeal to him too much. It wasn't the thought of getting some fresh air that he feared, but the invariable moment when his boyfriend would decide that the battle was about to begin, aided and abetted by his girlfriend. Ash was gently mocking him, knowing where his apprehension was coming from and, in a soft voice, she was promising him that they would just go out and pile up some snow and stick a carrot and two branches on it. Casey, for his part, was silent. He could still feel the morning excitement and closed his eyes for a few seconds. He focused on everything around him: the air that smelled like bacon, eggs, tea, coffee and muffins, the heat that rose gently from the dusty radiators, his skin that still stung a little after his shower that was too hot and because he had rubbed his skin a little too vigorously when the panic attack had washed over him.  
He had always loved snow, because when it snowed the world froze, he could pretend that nothing had ever happened, that he was alone in a silent world, without shouting, without blaming. He reopened his eyes and looked out of the window at the white sky that promised another snow fall. Then he turned his gaze back to the two others. Ash was silent and looked at him, worried. Tommy gently put his hand on his arm and smiled awkwardly. He sometimes forgot that they shared more than love and a passion for pets.  
\- We're here, you know that, right? Tommy said softly, stroking his arm with his thumb.  
Casey smiled, chasing away the last vestiges of his sadness.  
\- I know, and that's why I love it when it snows.  
Ash tilted her head to the side.  
\- How so?  
\- Yeah, because when it's cold outside, I know I'll always be warm here with you.


	2. December 2nd — “You look cold. Take my coat.”

Irina had no idea of the hour. The sun was setting early in this season and anyway the hospital never slept. Somehow she had been living out of time since she had taken up her position at Mount Sinai. Living alone didn't help her and sometimes she realized that a month had gone by without her feeling that she had ever emerged from the place. She rubbed her face. It was cold. Very cold even. It smelled like snow. The sky, lit by the lights of Manhattan, was whitish and low. She shivered. She had rushed out for a cup of coffee, she hadn't been in the break room and was simply wearing her scrubs. Bad idea in early December. She sighed. No, she wouldn't go back inside, she was done thank you. She was going to take a break, drink her coffee, freeze to the bone and go back to get her things, this time while hugging the walls before going home and sleeping for the next 24 hours, her cat stuck against her.

Irina should have already gone home for... she looked at her watch. For five hours now. But the hospital had been mobilized just as her shift was ending. An extremely serious accident had taken place on the FDR. The area manager had asked her if she could stay and help out with the promise that she could get her hours back within a week. According to her it was a matter of two or three hours. Five hours later, the nurse finally finished her shift that had started seventeen hours earlier. In truth, she didn't regret it. She hadn't done this job to leave as soon as her skills were needed, even if it was sometimes quite exhausting. In any case, it wasn't as if anyone but Lyoubli was waiting for her at home. She had called her neighbor to go and feed him.

The young woman stifled a yawn and looked at the bottom of her cup. She finished it in one gulp before wincing. Of course, it had cooled down very quickly. It was time for her to go home. She turned and froze. She was no longer alone on the ambulance square. Right at the entrance was someone she would have liked not to meet as she looked like a frozen, graceless zombie. It wasn't that she cared much about her looks at work, but just not with him. And then running into him in the middle of work was something other than coming face to face with him on a break. She hesitated about what to do next. He hadn't seen her yet, he was busy talking with Karkov. With a bit of luck she could discreetly slip away and walk around the building to the main entrance. Which, considering the size of the complex, was the equivalent of catching pneumonia in her current outfit. She sighed. There was only one thing to do: pass between the two doctors, head down, mumble a "sorry" and manage to never meet Dr. Ramana again.

_\- “You're worse than a teenager Irina," she admonished herself. "You're a pro for God's sake, he doesn't care to see you like that, he can't be better! And then if it happens, he has no idea who you are, so frankly, what do you care, eh? Act like an adult, go back to the hospital, get your stuff and get out!"_

Irina was not at all the type to imagine herself in the role of the nurse with whom the handsome doctor on the ward was falling madly in love. It was a TV show's cliché, no more and no less. Anyway, she was far too independent for that and her celibacy didn't weigh on her, on the contrary, she was happy to be free of her schedules and to be able to go home without worrying about pleasing someone or the meal to be cooked. Often, she would catch something on the way home and eat more or less lying on her couch with Lyoubli hanging around her. She would see in a few years to settle down and certainly not with a colleague. But, because there was a but, all this was before the freshly graduated Doctor Ramana arrived in September. If she crossed paths with him often, they hadn't exchanged more than a dozen words, and the young woman was certain that he didn't even know who she was apart from her name on her tag and her obvious job. This didn't stop her from having a crush on him, she had to admit it to herself. For starters, Amir (because, yes, she remembered his name) was the sweetest, most caring doctor she had ever met. He always spoke evenly, in a measured tone, patiently and always making sure that people understood what he was saying. He had a slight warm accent that went with his dark skin and dark curls. His eyes were a surprisingly light green color, but were adding to his charm. He was tall, broad-shouldered and reassuring. In short, Irina had fallen in love with this guy the day he said hello to her in the hallway. Which didn't help her business at all. They sometimes worked on the same shifts in the ER, even if, surprisingly, Park, the head of the pole, managed to assist her systematically. It was during these moments that she had been able to observe him and see how great he was, by the way.

As she was lost in her thoughts, to her dismay, the cold decided to recall her and she sneezed.

\- Stepanov, are you all right?

Irina blinked. She looked owlishly into the void, her empty cup in her hand.

\- Hmm?

She turned her head and came face to face with Dr. Ramana and his worried look.

\- Sorry, what?

\- Are you all right Irina? You must be freezing... Here, take my coat.

Without giving her brain the time to realize, he took off his coat and passed it over her shoulders.

\- You'll catch a cold, it would be a shame after surviving this apocalyptic shift, right?

And he began to laugh.

That's when Irina's brain decided to deliver all the information to her at once. Dr. Ramana had spoken to her in a context other than that of their work. Dr. Ramana remembered her name. Dr. Ramana knew her first name! At this point, her inner teenage girl began to scream. Dr. Ramana was worried about her, he looked worried. The inner scream became high pitched. Dr. Ramana had just given her his coat so that she wouldn't be cold! The inner teen fell into syncope, offering a glorious silence to the young woman's thoughts.

She blinked again as the warmth of the coat seemed to give her the opportunity to move again. It was a beautiful coat, warm, and smelling of spices and vetiver. She stopped just before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath of that divine scent.

\- Irina, you worry me. You are very pale... do you live far away?

Machinally, the young woman answered:

\- Not very far, I live on the 108th, after Park Avenue.

\- Perfect, then I'll take you home.

\- No, that's okay, that's nice.

She smiled at him while her inner teenager, recovered from her emotions and returned to her, began to shout in her ears: 

_\- The handsome guy offers to take you home and you say no?! You make me despair!_

_\- Silence! You can see that he's doing this to be polite!_

\- Honestly, I would be more reassured if I knew that you went home safely.

\- I would be sorry if your girlfriend had to wait any longer because of me, sincerely.

The sentence had come out all by itself. But you had to be honest, how could a guy like that be single? He looked at her, confused.

\- My what?

Ha, so he was gay. Either way, out of her league.

\- Or your boyfriend, even if that's none of my business at all! Anyway, thanks, I'm going to go get my stuff, grab something from Quinto's and go home!

The teenager sighed.

  
That's when the unexpected happened. Dr. Ramana's face lit up, giving him a much younger look than usual.

\- I love their _empenadas_! I invite you, okay?

Irina opened her mouth, the teenager inside her tackled her before she replied that she was refusing for some obscure reason and spoke in her place:

\- Oh... well, if you insist. It would be a pleasure. 

And she smiled at Amir before following him into the hospital, well wrapped up in his coat.


End file.
